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The program started last month at Ricart Ford in Groveport, Ohio. Photo by Ford

Ford takes a big step toward online car buying

New Ford Credit pilot program could make a trip to the dealership optional

January 23, 2017

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Ford Motor Credit Co. customers will soon be able to purchase and finance new vehicles from a dealership's website, thereby making a visit to the store optional.

Through a platform powered by Ford Credit and AutoFi, a financial technology company that automates online vehicle sales and financing, customers will be able to complete the entire transaction online. All they have to do face-to-face with a dealership employee is sign the paperwork and take delivery of the vehicle. Each dealership can decide whether to offer home delivery.

"What makes this so exciting is we know how important and exciting purchasing an automobile can be for a customer, but we know there are a lot of pain points in the process," specifically with financing, said Lee Jelenic, Ford Credit's director of mobility. "By combining our fast and efficient credit-decision process with AutoFi's online capability, we are making the customer experience faster, smoother and simpler."

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Ford and AutoFi began a pilot at Ricart Ford in Groveport, Ohio, in December. The platform will launch at more Ford and Lincoln dealerships across the country in the near future, Jelenic said, without specifying a number or time frame.

One of Ricart Ford's customers went through the buying process at the dealership but through the new platform. She completed everything short of signing the paperwork in seven minutes. She even took a break to make a phone call, Jelenic said.

"She called the process "way easy.' I'll take "way easy' any day of the week when describing a vehicle purchase," Jelenic said.

Another Ricart Ford customer logged into the platform from her home at 4:30 p.m. A half hour later, she had completed her financing. By 6:22 p.m., she was driving off the dealership lot in her new Ford Explorer, Jelenic said.

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Rick Ricart, sales and marketing vice president at Ricart Ford, said he is excited to be the first dealership in the pilot.

"Technology is transforming just about every type of financed consumer purchase, and the Ford Credit-AutoFi capability will help make that change for automotive purchases and deliver great experiences," he said.

After selecting a vehicle, customers can apply for credit, receive a decision, choose the financing terms and buy F&I products -- priced by the dealer -- on the store's website. Ford Credit and AutoFi also included Kelley Blue Book functionality to assess trade-in value.

Customers then review a summary of their purchase and financing terms and schedule a time to take delivery of the vehicle.

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"Customer expectations are evolving, and any entity that wants to participate must innovate," Jelenic said. "We want customers not only to be thrilled about the product but excited about the experience they had. [We want to make] a point to them that we value their time."

Beyond partnering with AutoFi for the new platform, Ford Credit has also made an undisclosed financial investment in the company, Jelenic said. "By investing in them, where we have shared skin in the game, we've truly created one team with the aligned goal of improving this experience for our customers," he said. "It goes deeper than commercial value."

An AutoFi spokesman said the company also is working with dealership groups, which he declined to identify, to provide a similar online financing and purchase option, apart from the Ford Credit program.